Murderers... and the role of a free Press

This is the first morning in almost two decades that Neville and Doreen Lawrence are able to face free of the fear their son’s murder would go unpunished.

Justice was a long time coming for Stephen, the 18-year-old A-level student with dreams of becoming an architect, whose life was cut short by a white racist gang on April 22, 1993.

But from that day to this, his parents kept faith with his memory, campaigning to bring the killers to court with a dignity and doggedness that moved the nation.

Guilty: Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in a landmark conviction after 18 years

So above all else, yesterday’s guilty verdicts are the crowning of the Lawrences’ quest for justice and a credit to the persistence of their parental love.

Yes, there was deep sadness behind the bereaved couple’s tears in court. As Mrs Lawrence put it: ‘How can I celebrate when my son lies buried?’ But after more than 18 years, these were also tears of relief at the triumph of truth.

Thanks: Stephen Lawrence's mother Doreen, pictured with her ex-husband Neville, right, and her son Stuart, left. Stephen's parents have praised the Daily Mail for keeping their son's case in the public eye

For as the Mail’s Editor points out on these pages, this was a glorious day for British justice – the day it became clear that, for all its frustrations, mistakes and delays, our judicial system does offer redress to all members of our society, whatever their racial background.

It was also a day of redemption for the police, whose perseverance and brilliant detective work have done much to wipe out the disgrace of their brutally insensitive original investigation.

Politicians, too, deserve high praise – notably Labour Home Secretaries Jack Straw and David Blunkett, who commissioned the Macpherson Inquiry and reformed the centuries-old law on double jeopardy, so allowing this trial of two of the original suspects.

But the Mail hopes readers will forgive us if we also claim credit for our own trade. For this paper takes a special pride in the role we played in bringing Gary Dobson and David Norris to justice, when so many let the Lawrences down.

Indeed, when the entire British Press is, in a sense, on trial at the Leveson Inquiry, we believe this case offers a timely reminder of the vital importance to a healthy democracy of independent, self-regulating and viable newspapers.

For the fact is that for four years after Stephen’s murder, it was as if the nation’s conscience had fallen asleep.

A bright black teenager had been murdered as he waited for a bus in south London, for no better reason than the colour of his skin. And the horrifying truth was that the great institutions established to protect him hardly seemed to care.

That was until February 14, 1997 – the morning after Stephen’s inquest recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

Risking action for libel and contempt of court, this paper published photographs of five young men, including Dobson and Norris, under the unprecedented front-page headline: ‘MURDERERS. The Mail accuses these men of killing. If we are wrong, let them sue us.’

Courage: The Daily Mail's unprecedented front-page on February 14, 1997

This was the page that awoke the nation’s conscience – galvanising the police, politicians and the judicial system and ultimately bringing out the best in them all.

Without the Mail’s intervention, the police might never have undergone the internal reform that was so necessary. Race relations might not have moved forward. And Stephen’s murder would almost certainly have gone unpunished.

Yes, it remains a source of regret that only two of the gang have been brought to justice. We hope the police and legal authorities will not rest, but will go on and pursue the other three.

However, after all these years of commitment, we take satisfaction in the knowledge that never again will a racist murder on Britain’s streets be taken with less than the utmost seriousness.

The free Press has done a proud job.

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Stephen Lawrence trial: Killers Gary Dobson and David Norris and the role of a free Press